


Love In The Time of Monsters

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Primeval
Genre: Getting Together, Happy Ending, Injured Stephen, M/M, Stephen survives, about damn time, finally talking, stubborn men are stubborn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-08 08:59:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6848047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things so easily could have ended that day in the cage room, but Cutter doesn't let his second chance at happiness get away from him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love In The Time of Monsters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kristen_mara](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=kristen_mara).



> Written as a Christmas present for the lovely kristen_mara who wanted Stephen surviving the cage room at the end of series 2.
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal in 2011.

Nick knew he should look away. He knew that his last memories of Stephen should be of his remarkable act of bravery (and stupidity) and not the moment the sabretooth slashed its claws against Stephen's back. But he couldn't seem to look away – hardly seemed to blink – and certainly couldn't force his legs to move.

He heard Helen moving behind him, and the taste of her betrayal on his tongue was bitter enough for his face to scrunch up. But he made it relax, for Stephen's sake. Even though Stephen was no longer looking at him, was no longer capable of looking at him.

And then Nick couldn't do it any more, sinking to the ground, his head resting against the door, silent tears falling down his face.

“Move!” a voice shouted behind him and Nick startled.

“Wh-” Nick started to say, but he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder and forced backwards.

“Explosives,” the man said, holding out his hand. Another black clad man passed him the Semtex which he began to attach to the door.

“Who are you?” Nick started to ask, still feeling dazed and unsettled.

“Sir, you need to head to the surface. Miss Lewis is expecting you.”

“Jenny – she's all right – but – Stephen -”

“Sir, I _will_ have you forcibly removed if I need to."

Nick blinked. “I - “ But before he could formulate a proper response he was being escorted out of the building.

He winced as the sunlight hit his eyes. It seemed like it should be the middle of the night, the way he was feeling.

“Cutter!” Connor shouted, running over to him. “You're okay.”

Cutter perfunctorily received Connor's hug, and then looked over at Jenny.

“Stephen's still in there,” Nick said to her.

“Stephen? Stephen was here?” Connor asked. “But what - ?”

A large explosion rocked the complex, effectively silencing everyone. They waited, huddled by the radio Jenny had been given by the special forces team, avoiding all eye contact.

“Man down!” came over the radio, making everyone flinch. “My God, he's still alive. Medic! Medic!”

Nick slid to the ground, relief and shock making his legs go from under him. Distantly he heard the sound of sirens and put his head into his hands. He stayed like that for a long time, until Abby and Jenny got him in a car and took him to the hospital.

* * * * * 

Cutter wasn't a religious man. Funerals and weddings, and the odd christening, were the only times that he ever stepped inside a church.

But before he dared go see Stephen he went to sit in the hospital chapel, and didn't come out until twenty minutes had passed.

* * * * * 

“It's a miracle he's alive, really,” the doctor was saying. “There's some nasty claw marks on his back, chunks of flesh ripped from his legs, and a nasty contusion to his head, but all in all, not bad, considering.” He turned to give a reassuring smile to Jenny and Nick. “Don't worry, I fully expect him to make a full recovery, though of course he'll need a great deal of physiotherapy. And I would highly recommend psychological counselling.” He looked severely at Cutter. “As you all probably should.”

Cutter didn't make any response to this. Instead he stared into Stephen's room. The younger man was surrounded by machinery, all of which was dedicated to keeping him alive.

“Can I see him?” Cutter asked.

“Yes, of course,” the doctor responded. “I would just prepare yourself for...”

But Cutter was already through the door and moving towards Stephen's bed before the Doctor had finished.

“Ah,” the doctor said, glancing at Jenny. “I hadn't realised. Have they been together long?”

“Together?” Jenny frowned. “They're not...” Her eyes opened wide. “Oh, yes. I see. They are, aren't they?” The doctor was still regarding Jenny with obvious curiosity.

“More than 8 years,” Jenny said, confidently. “They've been together a long time.”

“Excellent,” the doctor replied. “Now if you'll excuse me, I have rounds to make.”

Jenny nodded absently. She was staring at Stephen and Nick, wondering how she could have been so blind as to not see it before now. Of _course_ they were together, even if they didn't realise it themselves.

* * * * * 

Cutter hovered next to Stephen's bed, his hands twitching. Part of him wanted to reach out and hold Stephen's hand, but the other part was afraid of what further damage he might do.

Cutter couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Stephen this still and unalert. Even when he was tracking creatures and keeping his body as still as possible, his eyes were always moving, his brain always working.

Now though was very different. And if Stephen didn’t pull through...With shaking legs Cutter pulled a chair closer to Stephen's bed. He couldn’t understand how they'd got to this point. He couldn’t believe that he'd let Helen, of all people, come between them.

Helen, who he'd once loved above all things, but who he now despised in a way he'd never have thought possible. He was indifferent to a lot of people, but real hatred was an almost alien feeling.

“I promise I'll make it up to you. No more fighting.” Cutter put his hand next to Stephen's arm, but didn’t touch it. “And definitely more talking.”

* * * * * 

When Jenny walked into Stephen's room the next day she found a groggy Stephen looking down at a sleeping Cutter. Cutter's hair was one big mop of blonde and Stephen was slowly running his fingers through it.

“You're awake,” Jenny said, with a smile. The nurse outside had told her he'd regained consciousness a few hours ago but she hadn't really believed him.

“Hey,” Stephen said quietly, his voice hoarse.

Jenny slipped off her stilettos so she could silently pad to Stephen’s bed side. She leaned forward and very carefully planted a kiss against Stephen's cheek.

“It's good to have you back with us.”

Stephen looked a little stunned, so Jenny pulled herself up a chair and looked across the bed at where Cutter was still fast asleep.

“It's shock more than tiredness, I think,” she said. “And quite a bit of guilt.”

“He doesn't haven't anything to feel guilty about,” Stephen said immediately. Then he gasped and winced in pain.

“Do you need a doctor?” Jenny asked, starting to get to her feet.

Stephen shook her head. “Just have to sit still, he said. Heal.”

“Good advice,” Jenny said sternly, and then more gently helped Stephen get into a more comfortable position, careful, all the time, not to disturb Cutter's slumber.

“I was an idiot,” Stephen said, after a long moment of silence. “Believing in Helen instead of – instead of all of you.”

“Love makes us do ridiculous things,” Jenny said. “And brave ones.” She looked significantly at Cutter.

“I - “ Stephen opened his mouth and then shut it. Before he could say anything else, Cutter began to stir.

“I'll leave you two to it,” Jenny said, and disappeared out of the room before Stephen could call her back.

* * * * * 

Once Cutter started talking, Stephen found that he couldn’t make him stop, even if he'd wanted to. And then Stephen found that he was sharing all his pent up feelings with Cutter as if every moment was due to be their last.

When Jenny found them the next day they were practically curled up together, though Cutter looked like he might fall off the bed at any moment.

“I didn’t like to disturb them,” the doctor said, entering the room behind Jenny. “As long as they're careful it shouldn't be a problem.”

“How is he doing?” Jenny asked.

“Better than I was expecting actually. I'm sure that Mr Cutter's presence is a factor in that. There’s a long way to go of course, and it definitely won't be smooth sailing, but with time...” The doctor smiled over at the observation window, where Connor and Abby were hovering. “It seems to me he has a pretty good support network.”

“We'll make sure he's taken good care of. Both of them,” she added, as Cutter started to wake up.

* * * * * 

Cutter insisted that Stephen move into his house. Stephen had protested, weakly, before agreeing that there was no way he could get around his flat in his current condition. And besides, when Cutter brought him home from hospital that day he discovered that Abby and Connor had boxed up his entire flat anyway. And when Jenny told him she'd already organised the estate agents, he knew there was no point in fighting it.

(He pretended to be put out, but really he was relieved not to have to go there ever again. Helen had tainted the place in a way she didn’t seem to have managed in the house she'd shared with Cutter).

Stephen wasn't able to do much in or outside of the bedroom those first few months. Stephen often found it frustrating, but Cutter convinced him that it didn't matter and that they had plenty of time to catch up on everything they were missing.

It wasn't exactly a happy ever after, but it was a start.


End file.
